Paul Biya, who has been president of Cameroon for 43 years, was sworn in on Thursday for an eighth term, after a contested election that sparked mass protests and subsequent repression in which several demonstrators died.

The 92-year-old Biya, the world’s oldest head of state, won the October 12 with 53.7 percent of the vote, according to official results, against 35.2 percent for his main challenger, former government minister Issa Tchiroma Bakary.

He was sworn in at a ceremony in parliament in Yaounde for a new seven-year term at the helm of the central African country.

“I will spare no effort to continue to be worthy of this trust,” Biya told the gathering attended by local political figures but no foreign leaders.

“I fully understand the gravity of the situation our country is goin

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